Sanitary finger cap

ABSTRACT

A sanitary finger cap including: an insertion portion having a generally cylindrical shape and adapted to be fitted to a third knuckle of a finger connected to the center of a hand or to a portion of a second knuckle of the finger; and a grasping portion connected with one side of the insertion portion as a unitary body, in a shape of a general corn or pyramid in such a manner as to become small in thickness as it goes toward the other side thereof, and adapted to be fitted to a first knuckle as the end portion of the finger or to the second knuckle of the finger so as to grasp food thereon.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a sanitary appliance for food, and moreparticularly, to a sanitary glove which is worn on a finger to simplygrasp food without staining the finger.

2. Background of the Related Art

Generally, there are sanitary appliances for food such as chopsticks,forks, toothpicks and the like.

In fact, it is very hard to grasp food like fried chicken, pizza,hamburgers, fried food and so on by using the sanitary appliances likechopsticks or forks, and thus, such food is usually grasped by usingfingers or at a state of being wrapped with napkins.

If the food is grasped by fingers or napkins, however, there occur someproblems as follows:

Firstly, even though hands are washed well before grasping food,bacteria still remain on the hands, and when food is eaten outdoors, itis sometimes difficult to wash hands before eating, so that the food maybe eaten in a very unsanitary state.

Secondly, chemical substances like fluorescent materials discharged fromnapkins or tissues may give bad influences on the human body.

Thirdly, if hot food is grasped by fingers, serious hurt may be appliedto the skin of the fingers.

Lastly, it is hard to completely remove oil or seasonings remaining onthe fingers after taking the food, so that unpleasant food odors maystay on the fingers.

So as to solve these problems, thus, there have been proposed a varietyof sanitary appliances. As one example of the conventional practices,there has been disclosed a method for grasping food through a cap wornon a finger.

A conventional sanitary finger cap has an advantage in that since thecap is worn on a finger, food is grasped without staining the finger.

However, the conventional sanitary finger cap has the followingproblems:

Firstly, since the surface of the cap is slippery, it is difficult tostably grasp and hold food.

Secondly, the cap is made, taking no consideration of the lengths of thefingers of adults and children, the thicknesses of the fingers of malesand females, the thicknesses of the fingers themselves, and the lengthsand thicknesses of the fingers of individuals, such that the cap iseasily stripped off during the use.

Thirdly, the surface of the cap is slippery, and thus, when hot food isgrasped by the cap, the hot temperature of the food is transferred justto the skin of the fingers, thereby unfortunately causing burn on theskin of the fingers.

Lastly, if the thickness of the finger is almost the same as thesectional size of the cap, the possibility where the cap is stripped offbecomes reduced, but while the cap is worn on the finger for a longtime, the cap is wet inside by the sweat generated from the finger andis not easily stripped off.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention has been made in view of theabove-mentioned problems occurring in the prior art, and it is an objectof the present invention to provide a sanitary finger cap that has aninsertion portion and a grasping portion connected as a unitary body toeach other in such a manner as to be worn on a wearer's finger, therebygrasping food sanitarily, while having no direct contact with the food.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a sanitaryfinger cap that has a plurality of protrusions formed on the undersideof a grasping portion, thereby stably maintaining the state of graspingfood, while preventing food from slipping on the grasping portion.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a sanitaryfinger cap that has a plurality of protrusions formed on the undersideof a grasping portion, thereby preventing a hot temperature generatedfrom hot food from being directly transferred to the skin of a hand whenthe hot food is grasped.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide asanitary finger cap that has fixing grooves formed on the top surface ofa grasping portion, thereby being brought into close contact with a topof a wearer's finger.

It is yet still another object of the present invention to provide asanitary finger cap that has folding parts formed on a partial or entiresurface of an insertion portion, thereby improving the feeling ofwearing and enhancing a ventilation performance thereof.

It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a sanitaryfinger cap that has an insertion portion having an edge part formedalong the end periphery thereof, thereby adjusting the length orthickness of the insertion portion.

It is still another object of the present invention to provide asanitary finger cap that has a connection portion adapted to connect oneside of an insertion portion of the sanitary finger cap with one side ofan insertion portion of another sanitary finger cap, thereby improvingthe feeling of wearing and preventing the respective sanitary fingercaps from being lost.

To accomplish the above objects, according to the present invention,there is provided a sanitary finger cap including: an insertion portionhaving a generally cylindrical shape and adapted to be fitted to a thirdknuckle of a finger connected to the center of a hand or to a portion ofa second knuckle of the finger; and a grasping portion connected withone side of the insertion portion as a unitary body, in a shape of ageneral corn or pyramid in such a manner as to become small in thicknessas it goes toward a distal end of the grasping portion, and adapted tobe fitted to a first knuckle in an end portion of the finger or to thesecond knuckle of the finger so as to grasp food thereon.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects, features and advantages of the presentinvention will be apparent from the following detailed description ofthe preferred embodiments of the invention in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a plan view showing the sanitary finger cap according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 3 is a bottom view showing the sanitary finger cap according to thefirst embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a sectional view taken along the line A-A′ of a graspingportion in the sanitary finger cap according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along the line B-B′ of an insertionportion in the sanitary finger cap according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the usage of the sanitary fingercap according to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa second embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa third embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa fourth embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa fifth embodiment of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

Hereinafter, an explanation on a sanitary finger cap according topreferred embodiments of the present invention will be in detail givenwith reference to the attached drawings.

According to the preferred embodiments of the present invention, asanitary finger cap largely includes an insertion portion and a graspingportion.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa first embodiment of the present invention, wherein the sanitary fingercap largely includes an insertion portion 20 and a grasping portion 10and is formed of natural rubber, plastic synthetic material, or paper,which is thin, flexible, strong in heat, and harmless to the human body.

For example, the insertion portion 20 and the grasping portion 10 areformed of natural latex or low-density polyethylene (LDPE).

The natural latex is made of a fluid extruded from the bark of a naturalrubber tree cultivated around the Malay Peninsula, which is a naturalmaterial that has excellent elasticity and restoring force and anantimicrobial activity.

The low-density polyethylene is polyethylene made at a high pressure,that is, polyethylene made in a high pressure process wherein waste gasat a gas station or ethylene gas is polymerized at a high pressure.

The low-density polyethylene has a melting point of 107° C. to 112° C.,a density of 0.92, high transparency, and soft touch, and is widely usedfor film or sheet.

Preferably, the insertion portion 20 and the grasping portion 10 have athickness of about 0.2 mm to 0.4 mm.

The insertion portion 20 is a portion into which a finger is firstinserted and has a shape of a general cylinder corresponding to theshape of the finger.

When the insertion portion 20 is worn on a finger, also, it has such aperipheral size as to accommodate the thickest portion of the fingertherein, that is, a third knuckle of the finger connected to the centerof a hand or a portion of a second knuckle of the finger.

In other words, since the second knuckle of the finger has a smallerthickness than the third knuckle of the finger, preferably, theinsertion portion 20 is reduced in the peripheral size thereof as itgoes from one side thereof to the other side thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3, further, the insertion portion 20 has at least oneor more folding parts 25 formed on one side or entire surface of theouter periphery thereof.

The formation of the folding parts 25 enables the insertion portion 20to be comfortably worn on the second and third knuckles of the fingerand also allows the thickness of the insertion portion 20 to be adjustedproperly.

Further, as shown in FIG. 5, the space portions formed between theadjacent folding parts 25 allow the ventilation performance of thesanitary finger cap to be raised, thereby reducing the generation ofmoisture caused by the sweat inside the sanitary finger cap and easilystripping off the sanitary finger cap after the use.

The insertion portion 20 has an edge part 23 formed along the endperiphery thereof.

The edge part 23 is formed to be thicker than the entire surface of theinsertion portion 20 and serves to rigidly finish the end portion of oneside opened outside of the insertion portion 20. Further, the edge part23 serves as a handle when the sanitary finger cap is worn on the fingerand also helps the end portion of the sanitary finger cap to be broughtinto close contact with the knuckle of the finger.

Moreover, the edge part 23 is rolled up outwardly to adjust the entirelength of the sanitary finger cap, and if the edge part 23 is rolled up,the internal size of the insertion portion 23 becomes reduced, which isuseful for people who have short fingers or for women or children havingthin fingers.

The edge part 23 has a round shape, which is convenient to roll up, andalso, it can be formed in a band shape having a predetermined width.

The grasping portion 10 is connected to one side of the insertionportion 20 as a unitary body, in a shape of a general corn or pyramid insuch a manner as to become small in its internal size as it goes towarda distal end thereof, and the grasping portion 10 can be formed to bestreamlined in accordance with the shape of the finger.

When the sanitary finger cap is worn on the finger, also, the graspingportion 10 has an internal space portion for accommodating a firstknuckle in the end portion of the finger or the second knuckle of thefinger thereinto, and becomes brought into direct contact with food whenthe food is grasped thereon.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, the graspingportion 10 has a generally trigonal pyramid, and as shown in FIG. 4, thegrasping portion 10 has a generally trigonal section.

Like this, the grasping portion 10 has the trigonal section, and emptyspace portions are formed at both sides of the grasping portion 10 andat a top side of the grasping portion 10 when the sanitary finger cap isworn on the finger, thereby improving the ventilation performance of thesanitary finger cap. Further, the sides of the trigonal pyramid serve topress both ends of the top portion of the finger, thereby improving thefeeling of wearing.

Further, the grasping portion 10 has protrusions 13 and fixing grooves15 formed on the outer surface thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3, the protrusions 13 are formed protrudedly from apartial or entire surface of the grasping portion 10, such that whenfood is grasped, the food does not slip on the grasping portion 10 andthe state of grasping the food is stably maintained.

As the protrusions 13 are formed, the underside of the grasping portion10 becomes thicker than the other surface thereof, such that when hotfood is grasped, the hot temperature of the food is not transferred justto the skin of the finger.

According to the first embodiment of the present invention, theprotrusions 13 are formed in a circular shape on the underside of thegrasping portion 10, but they can be formed in various shapes likecombs, straight lines and so on.

The fixing grooves 15 are formed to be depressed toward the inside ofthe sanitary finger cap on one side surface of the outer periphery ofthe grasping portion 10 and are adapted to be brought into close contactwith the outer periphery of the finger, thereby improving the feeling ofwearing of the sanitary finger cap.

In more detail, since the thicknesses of the fingers are different inaccordance with males and females, adults and children, or individuals,the formation of the fixing grooves 15 enables the sanitary finger capto be adjusted in accordance with the thicknesses of fingers, therebyimproving the feeling of wearing of the sanitary finger cap.

That is, as shown in FIG. 4, the grasping portion 10 has the generallytrigonal section and forms the protrusions 13 on the underside thereofand the fixing grooves 15 on both sides thereof in such a manner as tobe depressed toward the inside of the sanitary finger cap, such thatwhen the sanitary finger cap is worn on the finger, the grasping portion10 is pressedly brought into close contact with both ends of the topportion of the finger, thereby allowing the sanitary finger cap to bestably worn on the finger.

The shapes of the fixing grooves 15 are not limited to that according tothe first embodiment of the present invention, and therefore, they canbe freely changed in accordance with the shape of the grasping portion10.

FIG. 6 is a perspective view showing the usage of the sanitary fingercap according to the first embodiment of the present invention, whereinthe sanitary finger cap is worn on each of the thumb, the index fingerand the middle finger which are mostly used when food is grasped.

Since the thumb is relatively thicker and shorter than the otherfingers, the sanitary finger cap to be worn on the thumb desirably hasrelatively shorter entire length and larger sectional size than thesanitary finger caps to be worn on the other fingers.

Of course, it is possible to wear the sanitary finger cap on all offingers of the hand, respectively, but desirably, the sanitary fingercap is worn just on each of the thumb and the index finger used mostlyfor grasping food. So as to grasp food in a more stable manner, mostpreferably, the sanitary finger cap is worn on each of the thumb, theindex finger and the middle finger according to the first embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 7 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa second embodiment of the present invention, wherein the sanitaryfinger cap further includes a connection portion 30.

As shown, the connection portion 30 is formed by connecting a portion ofthe end periphery of the insertion portion 20 of the sanitary finger capworn on the thumb with a portion of the end periphery of the insertionportion 20 of the sanitary finger cap worn on the index finger, as aunitary body to each other.

The connection portion 30 serves to prevent the sanitary finger capsfrom being lost and to prevent them from being easily stripped off.

Also, the connection portion 30 is formed of a string, but if it isformed of a band having a given width, it covers the skin between thefingers or a portion of the palm of the hand adjacent to the fingerswhen the sanitary finger caps are worn on the fingers, such that whenhot food is grasped, food or oil does not stain the palm of the hand.

Further, the connection portion 30 has connection folding parts 35formed thereon so as to allow the activities of the fingers to be easywhen the sanitary finger caps are worn on the fingers.

The connection folding parts 35 serve to raise the expansion andcontraction of the connection portion 30 between the fingers on whichthe sanitary finger caps are worn, especially the thumb and the indexfinger. According to the second embodiment of the present invention, theconnection folding parts 35 are formed of a bellows.

FIG. 8 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa third embodiment of the present invention, wherein the sanitary fingercap further includes a connection portion 30 adapted to connect portionsof the end peripheries of the insertion portions 20 of the sanitaryfinger caps worn on the thumb, the index finger and the middle fingerwith each other as a unitary body.

If the connection portion 30 is formed, a portion of the edge part 23abutting with the connection portion 30 is removed naturally, andalternatively, the entire portion of the edge part 23 is removed.

The edge part 23 serves as a handle when the sanitary finger cap is puton or taken off, and therefore, it is preferable that the edge part 23still remains even though it exists partially.

Further, the folding parts 25 on the sanitary finger cap according tothe first embodiment of the present invention are formed in a directionof length of the finger on the underside of the insertion portion 20 ofthe sanitary finger cap, but the folding parts 25 on the sanitary fingercap according to the second and third embodiments of the presentinvention are formed in a direction of the circumference of the fingeralong the upper periphery of the insertion portion 20 of the sanitaryfinger cap.

FIG. 9 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa fourth embodiment of the present invention, wherein the folding parts25 are formed in a direction of length of the finger on a portion of thetop end periphery of the insertion portion 20 of the sanitary fingercap.

Of course, it is possible to form the folding parts 25 on the insertionportion 20, without giving no influence on the connection portion 30,but if the folding parts 25 are formed on the underside of the insertionportion 20, the connection portion 30 is brought into close contact withthe skin of the palm of the hand to cause the ventilation performance tobe lowered. Accordingly, if the connection portion 30 is formed, thefolding parts 25 are preferably formed on the top periphery of theinsertion portion 20 of the sanitary finger cap.

FIG. 10 is a perspective view showing a sanitary finger cap according toa fifth embodiment of the present invention, wherein the sanitary fingercap is the same configuration as that in the first embodiment of thepresent invention, except that the insertion portion 20 further includesan incision part 27 formed at one side thereof.

Even though the sanitary finger cap is made in consideration of thethicknesses of fingers of adults and children and the thicknesses offingers of adult males and females, it is sometimes hard to insert arelatively thicker finger than a finger having an average thickness intothe insertion portion 20 of the sanitary finger cap.

According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, in thiscase, the incision part 27 is formed in a shape of a dotted line in adirection of length of the sanitary finger cap at one side of theinsertion portion 20, such that as one side of the insertion portion 20becomes cut off, the end portion of the finger can be inserted well intothe grasping portion 10.

According to the fifth embodiment of the present invention, the incisionpart 27 is formed in a shape of a dotted line, but it can be formedplurally in various shapes.

When the sanitary finger cap is worn on the finger, the food can begrasped in a sanitary state without staining the finger, and also, thefood does not remain on the hand, so that the hand can be easily washedafter taking the food and food odors do not stay on the hand.

As set forth in the foregoing, the sanitary finger cap according to thepreferred embodiments of the present invention has the followingadvantages:

Firstly, since the sanitary finger cap having the insertion portion andthe grasping portion connected as a unitary body with each other is wornon the finger, the food can be grasped in a sanitary state withoutstaining the finger, and also, the food does not remain on the hand,such that the hand can be easily washed after taking the food, and foododors do not stay on the hand.

Secondly, since the protrusions are formed on the underside of thegrasping portion, the food can be stably maintained in the graspedstate, without any slippage on the grasping portion.

Thirdly, since the protrusions are formed on the underside of thegrasping portion, a hot temperature generated from hot food is notdirectly transferred to the skin of a wearer's hand when the hot food isgrasped.

Fourthly, since the fixing grooves are formed on the top surface of thegrasping portion, the sanitary finger cap can be brought into closecontact with a top of the finger, thereby being adjustable in accordancewith the thickness of the finger.

Fifthly, the folding parts are formed on a partial or entire surface ofthe insertion portion, thereby improving the feeling of wearing of thesanitary finger cap.

Sixthly, the folding parts are formed on a partial or entire surface ofthe insertion portion, thereby improving a ventilation performance ofthe sanitary finger cap, preventing moisture from being formed in theinterior of the sanitary finger cap, and easily stripping the sanitaryfinger cap off after the use.

Seventhly, since the edge part is formed along the end periphery thereofin such a manner as to be rolled up, the length of the sanitary fingercap and the peripheral size of the insertion portion can be alladjusted.

Eighthly, the connection portion is formed to connect the end portionsof the insertion portions of two or more sanitary finger caps, therebyimproving the feeling of wearing of the sanitary finger cap andpreventing the respective sanitary finger caps from being lost.

Ninthly, since the connection portion is formed to connect the endportions of the insertion portions of a plurality of sanitary fingercaps, the connection portion is brought into close contact with the skinbetween the fingers or a portion of the palm of the hand when thesanitary finger caps are worn on the fingers, thereby preventing thefood from staining the palm of the hand.

Lastly, the connection folding parts are formed on the connectionportion connecting the plurality of sanitary finger caps so as to adjustthe entire length of the connection portion, thereby allowing theactivities of the fingers to be easy when the sanitary finger caps areworn on the fingers.

While the present invention has been described with reference to theparticular illustrative embodiments, it is not to be restricted by theembodiments but only by the appended claims. It is to be appreciatedthat those skilled in the art can change or modify the embodimentswithout departing from the scope and spirit of the present invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. A sanitary glove comprising at least one sanitaryfinger cap, the sanitary finger cap including: an insertion portionhaving a cylindrical shape and occupying between a half and one third ofa total length of the sanitary finger cap from an proximal end thereof;and a grasping portion being other portion of the sanitary cap than theinsertion portion and connected to the insertion portion as a unitarybody, the grasping portion being in a shape of a hollow triangularpyramid with rounded edges, wherein the insertion portion includes: aplurality of folding parts formed in a longitudinal direction on apartial or an entire surface of an outer periphery of the insertionportion to enhance a ventilation performance, the folding parts beingformed only in the insertion portion without being formed in thegrasping portion; a round or band-shaped edge part surrounding theproximal end of the insertion portion in all direction; and an incisionpart formed in a shape of a dotted line at the insertion portion suchthat the incision part is not cut off in a normal condition but becomescut off when a finger having a greater diameter than that of theinsertion portion is inserted thereto, and wherein the grasping portionincludes: a plurality of protrusions formed on one face of the graspingportion; and one concave part formed in a longitudinal direction on eachof the other two faces of the grasping portion and having a concavesurface bulging toward an inside of the grasping portion, the concavepart being formed only in the grasping portion without being formed inthe insertion portion and having a length greater than a width thereof,wherein the grasping part has a uniform thickness in all area thereofincluding the concave part and the protrusions.
 2. The sanitary gloveaccording to claim 1, comprising two or more sanitary finger caps. 3.The sanitary glove according to claim 2, further comprising a connectionportion configured to connect the proximal ends of the insertionportions of the two or more sanitary finger caps with one another. 4.The sanitary glove according to claim 3, wherein the connection portionincludes connection folding parts configured to increase expansion andcontraction of the connection portion.